‘A Magical Christmas’ concert by Cottonwood Community Band Dec. 2, 16

The Cottonwood Community Band Christmas concerts this year will be Sunday, Dec. 2, 3-4 pm, at the Cottonwood Recreation Center located at 150 South 6th Street, and Sunday, Dec. 16, 3-4 p.m., in the Rock of Ages Lutheran Church located on 390 Dry Creek Road, Sedona.

The Cottonwood Community Band is presenting their annual Christmas concerts, “A Magical Christmas” under the direction of Dr. Sy Brandon.

The first concert will be held on Sunday, Dec. 2, 3-4 pm, at the Cottonwood Recreation Center located at 150 South 6th Street.

The second concert will be held Sunday, Dec. 16, 3-4 p.m., in the Rock of Ages Lutheran Church located on 390 Dry Creek Road, Sedona.

The opening number, “Overture to Candide” will be played as a tribute to the composer, the late Leonard Bernstein, to celebrate his 100th birthday this year.

His fame derived from his long tenure as the music director of the New York Philharmonic which included conducting concerts with most of the world’s leading orchestras and receiving worldwide acclaim. Looking back to the 50’s, it is said that his work on Candide overlapped with West Side Story which was his most popular composed work, causing some compositions to be switched between the two shows before being performed. “West Side Story” was performed by this band in the 2018 Spring concert.

“Candlelight Carol” written in 1984 by English choral composer and conductor, John Rutter, is a popular carol for choirs which focuses on the Nativity of Jesus.

This instrumental arrangement for concert band by Jay Dawson, loses none of the emotional content of the original.

The complete “Harry Potter” themes from all eight movies is arranged by Jerry Brubaker. Scores written by: John Williams, Nicolas Hooper, Patrick Doyle, and Alexandre Desplat. Harry Potter is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by author J. K. Rowling.

“Suo-Gan” arranged by Carl Strommen, is a beautiful traditional Welsh lullaby written by an anonymous composer. Some will recognize this melody, not by the original lyrics, but alternate titles and words, such as “Christ Before Us”.

“Hymn and Fantasia” is based on a poem written in 1225 by Giovanni Bernardone, son of a wealthy merchant, who renounced his wealth to live in poverty and service. He later became known as St. Francis of Asisi. He is famous for many things, including his love for animals.

This joyful hymn, “All Creatures of Our God and King” is an outgrowth of that sentiment and was composed at the end of his life. It is a call for all creatures to lift up their voice and sing, Alleluia! This familiar tune is arranged by Elliot Del Borgo in 2000.

“Greensleeves” is a popular traditional English folk tune from the 16th-17th century with an anonymous origin. Many lyrics were added along the years, but the melody became known as a Christmas carol when William Chatterton Dix wrote words under the title “What Child Is This?” in 1865. This instrumental selection was arranged by Alfred Reed in 1961.

“Angels We Have Heard On High/ Ding Dong Merrily On High” is arranged by the director, Dr Sy Brandon. He combined both songs into an enjoyable upbeat Christmas carol with a different slant.

“Christmas Party” is musical variations on the song, “Deck the Halls”, arranged by James Curnow. Originating from Welsh folk music of the 18th century, words have been added to make it a favorite Christmas carol giving us a vivid image of bright and colorful decorations and decorating our homes or any establishment to make us feel the season is upon us. For this familiar perky tune, the band will be directed by Asst. Director, Neil Manzenberger.

“Christmas Jubilee” is an arrangement by Victor Lopez of some of our most cherished Christmas songs: “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, “Jingle Bells”, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”. The program will close with the band playing the traditional musical selection, “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson.

The band is recruiting local musicians without audition for the spring season and may be contacted at cottonwoodcomunityband.org or cottonwoodcommunityband@gmail.com.

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